Japan's atonement for war not enough, says former minister Yohei Kono

Maiko Takahashi

Tokyo: Japan has failed to atone sufficiently for its actions in World War II, said a former foreign minister who wrote an apology over the use of wartime "comfort women".

"They are insufficient," Yohei Kono, 77, said when asked about the apologies expressed to date by his nation's officials. "This is because the people who suffered and have extremely painful memories aren't saying they are sufficient."

The remarks by Mr Kono, a former senior member of Japan's ruling Liberal Democratic Party, echo calls by China and South Korea for a clearer expression of responsibility for the deaths of millions in Asia in the 1930s-1940s. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who has criticised the "propaganda" he says taints his nation's image, has seen his efforts to hold summits with China and South Korea rebuffed by their leaders.

Mr Kono, who left parliament in 2009 after serving in posts including deputy prime minister, chief cabinet secretary and president of the LDP, criticised moves by Mr Abe easing limits on Japan's military and defence industry. He said an election should have been held on Mr Abe's decision to alter the interpretation of the pacifist constitution.

Advertisement

"Japan needs to keep apologising, making gestures of contrition and seek a fuller understanding of its shared past with Asia," said Jeff Kingston, director of Asian Studies at Temple University's Tokyo campus. "The apologies tend to be vague and lack specific references to atrocities and excesses, therefore not addressing the needs of the victims."

Mr Kono is renowned for a 1993 statement he made as the government's top spokesman apologising for the Japanese military's abuse of women, known as comfort women, during the war. Then prime minister Tomiichi Murayama made what is regarded as the clearest apology for the war as a whole to date, in 1995 on the 50th anniversary of the war's end.

The Abe administration has stoked neighbours' concerns by investigating the grounds for Mr Kono's apology, which was based on evidence including testimony of women forced to service in Japan's military brothels. Mr Abe, 59, also spurred criticism in China and South Korea with a December visit to Yasukuni shrine in Tokyo, which honours Japanese war dead including Class-A criminals.

Mr Abe has said there is no need to revise either Mr Kono's or Mr Murayama's statements.

"The Japanese government must make a right and bold decision for the two countries to overcome a painful past," South Korean President Park Geun Hye said earlier this year.

Chinese President Xi Jinping criticised Japan's wartime aggression earlier this month, saying that China and the world will not accept efforts by a "minority" to distort history and facts.

Public opposition to reinterpreting the constitution to allow the military to defend allies under attack is high.

Mr Kono criticised Mr Abe's approach, indicating that he should have taken more time to debate the issue and held a referendum.

"If you are to make a policy change as big as changing the shape of a nation, it's natural that you should go to the people," Mr Kono said. "To change the ethos of the constitution, you should revise the constitution."